Remote Monitoring Techniques at Light Water Reactors

Containment and surveillance measures are important components in safeguarding nuclear material and monitoring relevant activities performed at Light Water Reactors (LWRs). Data acquisition and evaluation should be performed in specific time interval in order to fulfil the IAEA safeguards requirements. The concept of Remote Monitoring (RM) is applied in order to provide highest level of safeguards assurance through continuous monitoring without inspector interaction, in consequence reducing inspection effort and costs. Instead of periodic interim inspections, a Safeguards Approach with RM can be applied involving periodic safeguards review of Containment and Surveillance (C/S) data remotely transmitted in combination with random interim unannounced inspections when the integrity of containment system is verified to confirm that the RM equipment has not been tampered with. At present there are several LWRs under safeguards using Server Digital Image Surveillance System (SDIS) cameras and electronic seals, data from these systems are encrypted, authenticated, and remotely transmitted to the Agency HQ for evaluation. The use of Virtual Private Network (VPN) has allowed for an inexpensive, reliable method to transmit surveillance images directly from the facilities to IAEA headquarters in Vienna. As an example, in June 2004 IAEA surveillance systems at 21 LWRs with 44 cameras were supplemented with a VPN system running over xDSL (Data Subscriber Line) broadband connections. Camera and seal data totally over 270M/day are transmitted every day. Sponsored penetration or 'hacker' tests were performed on the system to ensure security. xDSL costs are minimal and the reliable nature of the connection has meant very little intervention for the operator.